Teodor Moraru was born in Îndărăptnici (now known as Nucăreni), a village in Orhei County, in the Republic of Moldova. In 1944, when Moraru was only six years old, the artist-to-be’s family fled to Romania, staying in Fundata/Fundáta for five years before resettling in Poiana Mărului/Almásmező, where the young Moraru was finally able to lay down roots. During this time, he developed a lifelong friendship with Horia Bernea, a bond that was accentuated by his parents’ divorce and subsequent moves to Luciu and Moieciu/Alsómoécs. Bernean, with whom he reconnected after a year of military service, would be present throughout Moraru’s life, beginning with their time at the Colegiul Tehnic de Arhitectură şi Lucrări Publice ‘I.N.Socolescu’ (I.N.Socolescu Technical College of Architecture and Public Works) in Bucharest, from which they both graduated in 1963.
In 1968, Moraru joined the Poiana Mărului Group, an intellectual circle of artists founded by his peer and good friend Horia Bernea. Moraru thrived in this highly influential environment.
His first-ever solo exhibition was held at Galeria Simeza in Bucharest in 1971, and he launched a series of exhibitions in 1974, 1977 and 1980. The international scene came calling the following decade, with an artist-in-residence opportunity at the Cité Internationale des arts in Paris in 1983 leading to a solo exhibition the following year. After that, Moraru’s artistic journey took him to Copenhagen, Vienna, Prague, Berlin, Lisbon, Darmstadt, Tokyo and Hanoi, to name just a few places.
In 1991, Moraru began his teaching career with a position at the Academia de Arte ‘Luceafarul’ (the Luceafarul Academy of Arts) in Bucharest, where he taught until 2005. In a nice form of circularity, some of his former pupils formed the group Colonia 21.
During his career, Moraru received several important prizes: Arta Magazine prize (1980); the special prize of the Uniunea Artiştilor Plastici din România (1991); the Ion Andreescu Prize from the Romanian Academy (1993); first prize for painting at the Millenium2001 exhibition (2001); special prize at the Lascăr Viorel exhibition in Piatra Neamț, Romania (2001); prize for painting from Muzeul de Artă Bacău in Bacău, Romania (2002); the jury prize of The Romanian Art Union (2003); the prize of the Minister of Culture of the Republic of Moldova (2004); the Ordinul Meritul Cultural in the rank of Great Officer of Romania (2004); and the great prize of the Uniunea Artiştilor Plastici din România (2004).
Moraru passed away in 2011.
